A non-Soap Opera narrative with special interest in the relationships of the characters rather than their heroic exploits. This trope can apply to any work of fiction: a Vampire Detective Series, a Humongous MechaAnime, a historicalthriller, or what-have-you. Movies and television which invent all-new superheroes quite often take this route (either that or they go the "realistic" route, without costumes). Usually it has a "softer" feel and much more screen time devoted to getting to know the characters and their individual strengths and foibles and on their "civilian" activities. Relationships change and develop over time, and much of the show's driving force comes not from plot but Melodrama simple interactions.

It's not uncommon for such series to "take a break" from the normal heroics to have an episode of pure characterization (Comic Book fans have long nicknamed these "baseball issues") or to eschew the heroics/doctoring/detecting entirely in favor of other soap opera staples like the Soap Wheel and Four Lines, All Waiting. In the case of superheroes, part of the drama will derive from separating hero and civilian identities with romantic complications. Anime beach episodes, when not entirely devoted to Fanservice, can be a form of this trope.

Examples:

This is something often mentioned about Neon Genesis Evangelion - that it was unusual for a mecha series to be so focused on characters and interpersonal relationships. Maybe it's part of a broader trend?

Some would say yes. Eureka Seven's first half certainly thinks so, and the middle section of RahXephon also has these traits.

Rinne no Lagrange is definitely more about the relationship between Madoka, Lan and Muginami than about outright mecha action.

Gundam SEED; to the point where it was practically formulaic to have one episode with action followed by an episode with nothing but soap.

A lot of Anime fit this description. Cardcaptor Sakura comes to mind, quite a few episodes of the Anime had no action at all.

Rozen Maiden. Given that this is pretty much a Moe series, it's not surprising.

Code Geass. In there with all that mecha fighting and political intrigue and overacting, they manage to squeeze in all sorts of high school drama and comedy, leading to sometimes-incredible Mood Whiplash.

Captain America tends to get all angsty about young sidekicks (particularly regarding Rick Jones) because Bucky "died" (Winter Soldier is a long story for another time) while his sidekick. This also explains his early animosity towards the Young Avengers. Similarly, Cap's own comic book made commentary on '40s vs. "modern" (whatever time period we're in) American values.

Peter Parker is the posterboy of this, apt considering he's probably the tropemaker.

Preacher had long stretches where the story took a break from the overall Rage Against the Heavens plot to focus on the relationships between the three main characters. This is most evident in the arcs later collected in Dixie Fried and All Hell's a-Comin'.

Marvel Adventures: Avengers turned away from saving-the-world plots to focus more on filling up lazy afternoons with activities like showing up at a country fair, chasing down spammers, dating, and pestering each other. Maybe not melodrama so much as passing the time.

Plenty of Astro City stories are more character studies than they are superhero epics.

Parodied in The Specials. There is no actual super-combat or rescuing on screen at all.

The Scream series is notable for this in the slasher genre, with a heavy focus on the characters, their relationships, and their backstories. The first film actually saw Executive Meddling to add a death to the middle of the film, as outside the two opening kills, there were no deaths for the first hour in the original script.

Its prequel/spin-off series, Caprica, shifts even further in the direction of soap opera / family-based drama, while retaining a penchant for larger dramatic themes. The result is a very different show.

While The Tick was more of a sitcom-type then a soap-type, it rarely showed the superheroes fighting, instead throwing them in plots like "meeting new heroes in an abusive relationship" or "suing the magazine that displayed naked pictures of Captain Liberty".

24. Whenever there's a couple real-time minutes to fill between Jack's latest action scene or torture technique? You can bet someone in either CTU in the White House be interrupting all their important business to talk about a coworker's feelings.

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman caught a lot of flack in its day for being more like "Moonlighting with superheroes" than other Superman shows, which were traditionally more action-oriented.

Harper's Island uses this as a sort of Padding. Remember, your average slasher film is only about 90 minutes long; this one has some 13 hours to fill!

The complaint of soaperization was frequently levied at the US version of The Office, especially during season four and early season five (what with the drama over Jim and Pam and the Dwight-Angela-Andy Love Triangle).

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